{"id":466,"date":"2012-12-28T11:52:39","date_gmt":"2012-12-28T16:52:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.nccomputertech.com\/?p=466"},"modified":"2012-12-28T11:52:39","modified_gmt":"2012-12-28T16:52:39","slug":"the-top-six-business-of-technology-stories-of-2012-why-six-why-not","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/2012\/12\/28\/the-top-six-business-of-technology-stories-of-2012-why-six-why-not\/","title":{"rendered":"The top six business of technology stories of 2012 (Why six? Why not!)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Here at the Ministry of Innovation we’ve been bringing you loads of stories about all of the interesting and (hopefully useful!) changes that are coming out of Silicon Valley and elsewhere. Out of all of those stories, we’ve selected six that we feel not only had the most impact, but whose effects will continue to be felt into 2013 and beyond.<\/p>\n

#6: Car-sharing services launch, fight the law<\/h2>\n

Back in June I heard about two San Francisco startups\u2014Lyft and SideCar\u2014that had similar business models. By the next month, I became a driver for both companies<\/a>. Both companies allow individuals armed with smartphones to moonlight as not-quite-taxi drivers. Then, potential passengers can pop open their own app and request a pickup from whatever point in San Francisco they like. Payment is all handled within the app via credit card. It’s sort of like Uber, except for those of us that don’t need to travel by black car. However, state regulators (to say nothing of the incumbent taxi industry) haven’t taken too kindly to these companies.
\nWe reported about how the California Public Utilities Commission (which deals with taxi regulation) hit the companies with a cease-and-desist in October<\/a>. The following month, they were slapped with $20,000 in fines<\/a>\u00a0which naturally were appealed. But earlier this month, the CPUC seemed to have softened its tone and appeared willing to at least consider legitimizing these companies<\/a>\u00a0by changing the rules.<\/p>\n

#5: Bitcoin goes mainstream<\/h2>\n

If 2011 was the year that Bitcoin first appeared on many people’s radars (including Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY)<\/a>), then 2012 was the year that the cryptocurrency began to, slowly, but surely, move into the mainstream. Ok, your non-techy friends aren’t going to be ditching their greenbacks anytime soon\u2014but there were some signs that the digital cash may be strengthening and headed towards more ease-of-use.
\nFirst, the currency’s exchange rate is on the rise. In April 2012, a Bitcoin was worth just $4.50. By July it had nearly doubled<\/a>. Today, one Bitcoin is worth about $13.50. That’s a massive increase by any measure.\u00a0Second, in August, a company announced that it would be creating Bitcoin-based debit cards<\/a> for all to use. Then, the Bitcoin Foundation threw open its doors<\/a>\u00a0hoping to spread the currency’s gospel far and wide. WordPress started accepting Bitcoins<\/a>, too.
\nFinally, perhaps the most exciting development is that Bitcoin Central, which operates in France, has been authorized by local authorities to operate as a bank under French law<\/a>. As we reported in December, “The accounts will also be integrated with the French banking system, so users can have their paychecks automatically deposited into their accounts and converted to bitcoins.”
\nStill, Bitcoin isn’t perfect and definitely has some hurdles to overcome. In March, the lack of “chargebacks” prompted a lawsuit between two Bitcoin-related companies<\/a>. In September, a Bitcoin company sustained a theft<\/a> worth $250,000. And worse still, an August 2012 academic study on Bitcoin found that it had helped fuel $2 million per month<\/a> in illegal drug sales online. So don’t liquidate your Uncle Sam-backed bucks just yet.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Full Story: The top six business of technology stories of 2012 (Why six? Why not!) | Ars Technica<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Here at the Ministry of Innovation we’ve been bringing you loads of stories about all of the interesting and (hopefully […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[10],"tags":[427,668,1030],"class_list":["post-466","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-technology","tag-google-fiber","tag-media-innovation","tag-startups"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/papNkV-7w","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":7632,"url":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/2015\/02\/13\/microsofts-continuing-efforts-to-be-cool\/","url_meta":{"origin":466,"position":0},"title":"Microsoft\u2019s continuing efforts to be cool","author":"NCCT","date":"February 13, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"There's an old saying in Silicon Valley: \"nobody ever got fired for using Amazon Web Services.\" And among SV startups there are three business models that are en vogue: get bought out by Facebook, get bought out by Google, and get bought out by Apple. Typically missing from this conversation\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Microsoft"","block_context":{"text":"Microsoft","link":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/category\/microsoft\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/cool-microsoft1-640x320.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/cool-microsoft1-640x320.png?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/cool-microsoft1-640x320.png?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":7473,"url":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/2015\/01\/21\/mobile-technology-produced-3-3-trillion-in-revenue-last-year-alone\/","url_meta":{"origin":466,"position":1},"title":"Mobile technology produced $3.3 trillion in revenue last year alone","author":"NCCT","date":"January 21, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"As a society, we\u2019re enamored with our mobile devices. They\u2019ve changed the way we live, work, learn, travel, shop and stay connected and have led to an explosion in technological innovation and economic growth unmatched even by the industrial revolution. A new report commissioned by Qualcomm from The Boston Consulting\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Hardware"","block_context":{"text":"Hardware","link":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/category\/hardware\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5801,"url":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/2014\/06\/18\/where-does-troubled-mozilla-go-from-here\/","url_meta":{"origin":466,"position":2},"title":"Where does troubled Mozilla go from here?","author":"NCCT","date":"June 18, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Once upon a time, it was simple. Mozilla, thanks to its open source web browser Firefox, was the feisty David to Microsoft's Internet Explorer Goliath. Under the technical leadership of Brendan Eich, Mozilla co-founder and creator of JavaScript, Firefox became a force to be reckoned with in web browsing at\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Software"","block_context":{"text":"Software","link":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/category\/software\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/mozilla-firefox-620x349.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/mozilla-firefox-620x349.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/mozilla-firefox-620x349.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":8798,"url":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/2015\/12\/31\/the-10-most-popular-techspot-news-stories-of-2015\/","url_meta":{"origin":466,"position":3},"title":"The 10 most popular TechSpot news stories of 2015","author":"NCCT","date":"December 31, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"By TechSpot Staff | TechSpot As 2015 comes to a close we're taking a look back at the year's most popular stories on TechSpot. Throughout the day we've gone compiled the most read stories narrowed down by company\/topic, including Microsoft, Google, Apple, tech culture news, security and our reviews and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Technology"","block_context":{"text":"Technology","link":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/category\/technology\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/FAKqaoV04MI\/0.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6967,"url":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/2014\/11\/25\/samsung-wants-the-itc-to-block-nvidia-chips-in-the-us\/","url_meta":{"origin":466,"position":4},"title":"Samsung wants the ITC to block Nvidia chips in the US","author":"NCCT","date":"November 25, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"In the latest round of a patent battle between Nvidia and Samsung, Samsung petitioned the US International Trade Commission to block the sale of Nvidia\u2019s graphics processors in the US, Bloomberg reported on Friday. The request, according to the ITC, would extend to both Nvidia\u2019s graphics cards and systems on\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Technology"","block_context":{"text":"Technology","link":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/category\/technology\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":9269,"url":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/2017\/11\/11\/the-new-screen-savers-130-the-new-xbox-one-x\/","url_meta":{"origin":466,"position":5},"title":"The New Screen Savers 130: The New Xbox One X","author":"NCCT","date":"November 11, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"https:\/\/youtu.be\/1ikGToSFkuc -Leo Laporte and Fr. Robert Ballecer, SJ check out the new Xbox One X. Samit Sarkar, Senior Reporter from Polygon joins us to talk about the new games, 4k with HDR gaming, and if it's worth it without a 4K monitor. - The holidays are approaching quickly and we've\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Microsoft"","block_context":{"text":"Microsoft","link":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/category\/microsoft\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/1ikGToSFkuc\/0.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/466","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=466"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/466\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=466"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=466"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=466"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}